Rice is the most common grain to use in stuffed vine leaves. There are many choices when it comes to rice. I recently discovered a wonderful, inexpensive way to buy rice. I buy it in large quantities at small Asian grocery stores. There is brown rice, which comes in short, medium or long grain. I love black rice, which is used by the Asians to make a desert. It is very tasty and would be wonderful in stuffed grape leaves.
You can substitute the rice with many other grains as well. Try using bulgur wheat, quinoa, barley, amaranth or couscous. Amaranth grain is one of my favorites. It is much higher in protein than rice and other grains. It also has a distinct wonderful flavor.
If you stuff your leaves with meat, mince the meat very small. You can use pork, chicken, beef or even rabbit or venison. Seafood can be substituted. Salmon is a good choice.
Vegetable-filled grape vine leaves are my favorite. Use broccoli, onions, peppers, tomato, mushrooms, asparagus, eggplant, zucchini, carrots or sweet potato for variety. It is fun to experiment with vegetables that you are not familiar with. You can use vegetables that are in season where you live to save money. If you have your own garden you can simply use vegetables that are ready to be harvested.
Seeds added to your stuffed vine leaves will add vitamins and protein. Sesame seeds that do not have the hulls removed are the most nutritious. You can also use sunflower seeds or flax seeds.
If you think stuffed grape vines leaves sounds like an expensive meal, there are ways to put this elegant meal on your table without spending much money. Grape vines grow wild pretty much everywhere. I have some on my property and I tend to forget they are there, because the grapes are wild and very tiny. The birds seem to always get them before I do. However, the leaves remain throughout most of the year. Find a place to pick wild grape vine leaves.
When there are no grape vine leaves to be found and you need to use something more affordable, buy a head of cabbage. The cabbage leaves can be used the same way. Just wrap your stuffing with the cabbage leaf same as you would with a grape vine leaf.
You don't have to use fancy rice or expensive vegetables. All you need is some wild harvested vine leaves, which are free. White rice is inexpensive. All you need is the leaves, rice, a little onion and olive oil.
Experiment and enjoy this delectable, nutritious, and affordable food.
